Deviant Dispatches

Let me preface: I love my daughter. I have loved her since Day 1 (however you might measure that). I'm continually amazed at all the things about her - from the way she stared at everything so intently the moment she was born to all the shifts and changes as she's become a different person over the last nine months. She's incredible and studious and smart and adorable and (yes) perfect. I thought (hoped) it was just hormones at first. Then I thought it was just trouble adjusting to this big life change. Then I called it by its true name (at least, in my head) and tried to ignore it, and then hoped it would go away on its own. I'm sure many other mothers do this too. I felt so guilty for having postpartum depression. I also felt angry for so many reasons: I couldn't figure out how to do it right (because surely I was doing it wrong). Spousal Unit had (still has) a different parenting style than me and we had trouble compromising (largely because of the...

Last weekend, we visited Eplegaarden , "da apple orchard vit da Norvegian experience." They have pretty much everything you could want in an orchard/pumpkin patch experience. Awesome animals were among them. Here, Spousal Unit and his goat friend model their fabulous hiar. We picked a small bag of ginormous apples - honeycrisp! Sandy picked her first pumpkin - ever! A great bluegrass group serenaded us as we paid for the produce. Even the shop in the big red barn was charming. This clock ran backwards! Ole &Lena's Time: Going back to the Good Old Days

I finished a new project! I'm so happy for me, even if the finished product has ... issues. As with all the items I've been binding off lately, I began this set of Norwegian-style snowflake/flower leg warmers quite a while ago. I think I finished the first leg last winter. So when I started the second leg, I only had a rough memory of how the pattern went (these are self-designed, based on a pattern from The Knitting Stitch Bible by Maria Perry-Jones). At first, it seemed to be going quite well. I knitted loosely, because I have problems with stranded knitting being too tight. I figured that if the second leg was a little looser, all the better - the first was tight enough to be a circulatory aid. I bound off the project with brandy on the rocks and excitement in my very strange mind. Unfortunately, I learned too late that I had likely used the wrong size of needles. I'd debated at the start whether I'd used size 6 or 8 for the first leg and just couldn...

Going Slightly Mad - Queen In the last few days, I feel like I've gotten a little crazier than usual. I've been researching viruses for the last several days, trying to understand them better so that I can write about them. The problem is, science was never my strong suit. I adore it beyond all reason, but I never got better than a B in most of my science classes. Another issue is probably in my methods - skipping from Wiki to Wiki in search of authentic sources in the reference list is a little ridiculous. I need to check out some books. My 40-hour work weeks have begun. Before this I was doing 35 a week, and that was full time. But the Mighty Overlords have put their backs into our floggings, and now I spend less time sleeping and more commuting during rush hour. I hate driving in the city.  People are idiotic behind the wheel. I do still love my job - I just didn't want to spend extra time loving it. Family matters are ... complicated right now. So I've al...

Spousal Unit and I enjoyed a good, wholesome weekend with the family. Sorry, I mean a good, wholesome half hour. We were drunk for the rest of it. First things first: We went to Drammen Lutheran Church in Mondovi for a family reunion. I was excited to see some people I hadn't seen it a while. Unfortunately, by the time we got there, the reunion was over. All that was left to see was the church. That still worked for me - my great-great-grandpa who came over from Norway built this church. Here I am being silly in front of it. (I doubt he would have approved.) Then came the less wholesome and more fun part of the weekend. It wasn't spent at the bottom of red Solo cups, but it was close enough. I saw a cool barn door while drinking. You are all shocked to know there are barn doors in Wisconsin. Amazing camera point: This was taken in pitch dark. You can almost see a face peeking out of that window, can't you? But from there on out, the night w...

It was a busy weekend, but I have some great pictures to show for it! I went to my friend Liz's wedding, and it was gorgeous and fun and full of love. I saw friends I haven't seen in a long time. Spousal Unit rode a tractor. I took artistic photos of random stuff. (Or I tried to be artistic, anyway.) There was a gorgeous moon above a white farmhouse. And there was happiness. All of the greatest things for Liz's wedding. (I include the tractor in that, too.)

Last week, Spousal Unit and I got a new TV. It's a 39-inch Insignia , and we paid a damn good price for it. (This doesn't change the fact that my thrifty Norwegian sensibilities were all in a tizzy at shelling out so much money.) We spent a good deal of time in the store debating whether to get 60Hz or 120. What's the difference? I'll tell you. 60Hz looks like normal TV. Good,  but normal. Nothing about looking at it makes me uncomfortable. 120Hz is for action movies and things that move quickly - higher quality, sharper picture. It makes me intensely uncomfortable. One of the first things we watched on the new screen was the finale of Trinity Blood . (We can now watch Netflix on the TV through Blu Ray.) That was fine - wonderful, even - because it was animated. The details were sharp, and we saw so many things we'd missed on our little computer screen. But then, we watched Star Wars Episode I. Believe me, I was against it. The event was delayed for a...

Last night, Spousal Unit and I saw Rising Gael play at the Stoughton Opera House . The group is originally from Wisconsin (one of the CDs we picked up was recorded in Cottage Grove), and from their witty banter on stage, it sounded like they had many friends in the audience. Spousal Unit first heard them on The Irish and Celtic Music Podcast and has loved them ever since. Their first song of the night was Nova Scotia Farewell, which is becoming my favorite song the more I think about it. Lead singer and pipe master (a.k.a. flautist) Erin Ellison has such a strong, distinctive voice - I especially love the effects when she hits the high notes in this song. Despite that, the audience was quiet early on. A little too quiet. (Can you blame them? Stoughton is full of Norwegians - we don't get rowdy unless we're instructed to.) "We're used to playing pubs," guitarist Peter Tissot announced, encouraging the audience to get into it. And that was all it took. ...

Last night, Spousal Unit and I rescued this dresser from ultimate destruction down by the dumpster. It's pretty gorgeous - I haven't cleaned it off yet to see how badly the top is actually scratched, but even if it's terrible, I don't care. We got this thing for free. My back hates me for it, because it's about as sturdy as it looks. Plus, it's one more thing to move at the end of October. Again, though: it, like most of our furniture, was free.

This weekend, I partook in a way of life that is slowly fading away, as more country roads become big highways and more corn fields become parking lots: a barn dance. I went to lots of events like this when I was little, except they were held at a small rural town hall. They served as family reunions for the adults; they gave me the excuse to eat too many rosettes and spin in circles like a maniac. For hours. I loved going to those events, despite the cheek pinches from people I didn't know and the long drive there and back. I usually wore a dress my mom had made for me, with a pair of frilly socks - back when pink was my favorite color. My family provided the music for these events, as they did at this weekend's dance. Back then, there were a maximum of five or six musicians at once; this weekend, there were between five and ten. (Not pictured here are the ladies who played mandolin later on.) There was even a caller for the square dances. The only ones I knew ...

Today is Syttende Mai, Norwegian Independence Day! Today, everyone wants to be Norwegian. (Don't deny it!) Nearby Stoughton, Wisconsin, is having a Syttende Mai festival this weekend, where you can compete in an Ugly Troll contest , eat more lefse than any other day of the year, and even watch the high school's Norwegian dance group . Sounds like an excellent way to celebrate. Mmm, lefse . If lefse isn't your thing, how about some fruit soup? The Butterfly Jungle's fruit soup recipe You could engage in some Norwegian knitting to celebrate, with a book like Norwegian Handknits , which has knitting patterns, historical photographs and stories, and recipes. Everything you could want in a Norsk book! How are icy streets, knitting, and Norwegian culture related? Check out  Anne Landre's article on Knitty.com. Eunny has some beautiful work! Last but not least... my favorite song about lutefisk! (Okay, it's the only song abo...

Rather than writing a post for you, today I've given the blog its semiannual facelift. (This is becoming a rather frequent thing - I hope the blog isn't getting too spoiled.) For your enjoyment, the following changes have occurred: New picture header, complete with new tagline. I do enjoy coming up with those. A list of my "top ten hits," as it were, according to number of pageviews. That's on the right. Removal of my favorite links. It was starting to get crowded over yonder, so I closed my eyes and clicked. If you want it back and would rather let go of something else, let me know. I'm already well over my allotted hour of work for the day; Spousal Unit advised I do something fun on my day off, rather than doing like I do and accidentally working all day. So... maybe I'll read. It's hard to resist the urge to clean, though. Enjoy, and let me know if you've got suggestions for anything.

Dear Norwegian ancestors, Give me a freakin' break already. I appreciate that you had so much ambition. Why, everyone back then did enough burning and pillaging for three people in a single lifetime. You drank enough mead individually to leave a modern man drunk for the entirety of his natural life. You spun enough tales for today's cinema to create at least one really terrible movie . You've kindly passed down your drive to go places and do things, to the point where I feel guilty when I don't accomplish something monumental on a day off, like cleaning the whole house or curing cancer. It would be nice if you'd let me relax sometime. I know that at this point, you're a bit beyond my reach, Norwegian ancestors. It's been quite a while since you traversed the ocean, settled new land, and raised your children to be hardworking, lutefisk-surviving, silent-suffering members of society. But I'm still hoping you'll hear me, far away in the heart of Wiscon...

As a counter to yesterday's post, today I bring you books that are interesting and well done, as opposed to written by monkeys and lining birdcages. The first in this installment of "Books I Will Read at Some Point and Might Also Like to Own" is Population 485 by Michael Perry. Michael Perry has returned to his hometown of New Auburn, Wisc., after a ten-year absence. To feel more in-touch with the town again, he joins the volunteer fire department, putting out flames and saving lives when he's not putting words on a page. This is the story of rural life: everyone knows everyone (including their history), and life is mostly taken at leisure - except when there's an emergency. The first chapter tells of Perry's connection to New Auburn, and also the story of Tracy, whose car went out of control at a dangerous turn. His telling of the two stories is immaculate, bits from one followed by pieces of the other. His language choice is perfect. Describing the accident:...

Lately, I've been questioning a lot of things about my life. Who I am, who I want to be, what I want next - you name it, it's been on my mind. So many questions like that all at once can be a good thing. They can lead to big changes in a person's life. But I reached the point where I started to feel muddled and weighed down by them all. It was just depressing, and I felt caught in a spiral of doubt and negativity - one might call it a sneaky hate spiral . So yesterday I ventured down to the lake, to a spot that had a plethora of small rocks at the shoreline, and began to skip them. In college, I started that practice after watching the movie Amelie . Rock skipping is one of her pastimes, and it had been a long time since I'd done it. I found that each time I went, I felt lighter. It was a chance to be alone for a while - one bit of calm in the midst of my crazy life. That practice stopped while I was in New Mexico. Bodies of water are not exactly plentiful there, and th...

A few weeks ago, we went to Spousal Unit's parent's for his birthday. You remember when I told you about it: the cake, the new t-shirt, the destruction of the cake because a tipsy Spousal Unit had a knife... Anyway. When The Great Migration happened earlier this year, we knew we wouldn't have room for our books in our cars during the move. So we mailed them to Spousal Unit's parents, who have kindly kept them in the basement, waiting for us to get a room of our own. After things settled down after Spousal Unit's party, we went hunting for books we've missed and needed, like our cookbooks and The Hunger Games series. As we settled the boxes back into place, Spousal Unit suddenly turned toward a pile of stuff behind him. When he turned around again, he was holding a mandolin. Playing mandolin has been on my "things to do" list for quite some time. I knew I wanted to play either that or a ukulele. I like the sound of smaller stringed instruments, and I...

Weather-wise, today is a delightful victory. The high is 60, as it will be tomorrow, meaning Autumn is finally wrenching away Summer's grip on this hemisphere. Soon, the leaves will start turning gold, persimmon, and toffee, making our outdoor walks a symphony of color, a concerto of crunching. It's almost time to break out the scarves and sweaters. This is usually very exciting to me - the sweaters in particular. But this year, it brings on a moment of silence from me, because I left all - all - our winter clothes in New Mexico, believing Spousal Unit would be back for them at the end of September. Alas, he is going back, but it's likely to be on the train, which means no room for him to carry an enormous box of fluff. A few sweaters will be returning so I can avoid freezing my butt off, but most will sit in storage, wondering why they've been abandoned to that cold, dark corner of the universe. Since I can't revel in my fall sweaters quite yet, I'm enjoying f...

Spousal Unit's birthday was this weekend. We went to his parents's house, and I was all prepared to make his delicious birthday cake - with a TIE fighter , as requested. Then, I found out he'd told his mom I was making pizza. I did make pizza for his birthday dinner the previous night, but hadn't planned on making it for his party. But his mom had already bought a cake. What to do? Spousal Unit reasoned that you can never have too much cake, so I went ahead with my original plan: a melted ice cream cake. The recipe calls for a cake mix, three eggs, and a melted pint of Ben and Jerry's. Spousal Unit wanted red velvet, so I used a red velvet cake mix and vanilla ice cream, but there are many more interesting combos out there. Mix everything together, and you have the moistest cake in the world. I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be baked at 350 for about 35 minutes, but having two cake pans for a layer cake made it take much longer, so I was in a rush by the end...